Glenwood South to pilot Hospitality District ordinance

Soon, Glenwood South will become a more neighborly place to party and to sleep.

Or, that is the hope, with the Glenwood South Hospitality District ordinance. On Wednesday, Raleigh’s City Council approved a one-year pilot program for the ordinance that will make it easier for businesses to obtain entertainment permits and easier for residents to make noise complaints.

Beginning December 1, instead of having to go through a quasi-judicial process to obtain an Outdoor Amplified Entertainment Permit to play live or recorded music from the City of Raleigh, Glenwood bars and clubs can more easily request and secure the Hospitality District Entertainment Permit. The permit allows businesses to play music (subject to decibel limits) until 11 p.m. on weekdays and until 2 a.m. on weekends; they can’t play music past these times until 7 a.m. the next day.

Permit holders will be required to designate a permit manager to deal with noise complaints from nearby residents when they are causing a disturbance. And the City will establish a complaint registration system open to the public; violators will be subject to penalties.

The amended boundaries of the Glenwood South Hospitality District encircle Glenwood Avenue all the way up to Peace Street; they stretch east to North Harrington Street and west to North Boylan.

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“I think it is a fantastic way to way to encourage neighborliness among the businesses and residents of Glenwood South,” said resident Darcy Downs.

City Council members all agreed with Downs and indicated that if the pilot program works, the ordinance could be applied to other areas of downtown Raleigh.

“I have great hopes that this will become the de facto method of having neighbors and businesses downtown working towards constructive resolutions to issues,” said Council member Russ Stephenson.

And, if you want to make a noise complaint but you just aren’t feeling neighborly, you still have the traditional option to call the police.